April 19, 2017 - BJJ

Oh man, what a day. So tired.

Diego is in Abu Dhabi for the World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2017, so Conrad taught class. Mostly we reviewed two half-guard escapes/sweeps we went over with Lucio on Tuesday. Here's what it mostly looks like, except these guys don't use their top knee to make space/push the opponent away, so kinda different. What? I said I was tired. Too tired to find the right video. Deal with it.

After drills, we rolled. A lot. Rolled with Conrad, Mike Kazan, new Purple Belt John, and Pablo, a White Belt who's popped in a few times. Mostly he does Muay Thai at night. Regardless, he might be White, but he's fast and pushes a fast pace, kinda wears you down through his athleticism. 

I did fine, though I got in like three of Mike's Arm Bars (which I got out of) and got saved by the bell from John's deep, deep, deep Triangle Choke. I survived, but just barely. Saw the clock as John sank in his Triangle and just played defense, controlled my breathing, and at around 20 seconds left I knew I could last until the end of the round. My vision was starting to go gray there during the last five seconds. I guess you know you're feeling safe and determined enough that you'd risk getting choked out rather than tap. I don't mess with joint locks: Kimuras, Arm Bars, Americanas, Knee Bars, hell, I'll even tap right off the bat if I feel an Ezekiel sink in or some kind of crank. But a straight Triangle Choke? Well, let's just say, I played the clock. 

Jiu Jitsu Diary - 8

So, today, besides being a great class, was pretty much a seminar on BJJ as an art as well as a martial art and a sport. Class was taught by Lucio Muramatsu and we started drilling with partners by choosing one pass to do ten times, one sweep ten times, and one submission ten times. I chose the Toreando Pass or Bullfighter Pass, Pendulum Sweep from Closed Guard (which has a Brazilian name that I can't pronounce, something like Bombalagamba, but that's totally wrong), and then Armbar from Closed Guard. Drilling was great, but one of the best things I learned from Lucio is that every pass has three parts: The Advance, the In Between, and the Establishment of Control. You make your move, you have a spot in the middle where you've passed but haven't established control, and then you do. So for the Toreando it's: move the legs (Advance), knee on belly (In Between), and then into Side-Control. It's not enough just to make it pass someone's legs/guard (passing means you pass the legs which is also known as the Guard cause if your opponent can keep their legs between you and them, there's no submission or control there), you have to establish control. I know, doesn't sound profound, but for me it really made sense. 

After that we rolled and I did a pretty good job of staying out of submissions, though of course, I did get submitted, by Mike Kazan and by Conrad. An Armbar and a Bow-and-Arrow choke, respectively. I did manage to get Adrian in Arm Triangle, but that's just cause he held onto a bad Guillotine too long, gotta give that up the moment you figure you can't close it. Oscar, of course, kept the action high. Almost got him in a Kimura, but really, he's so flexible that he let me have it while he set up his legs for an escape. But I did get a Judo throw on Mike! It was crappy, but I got him to the mat with a double collar throw and ended up in Side Control!

But the best stuff came after class. Lucio kinda went over his philosophy of minimum energy for maximum return. Also, discussed how it's easier to move yourself than your opponent. It's hard to put it all into words, mostly cause it is his approach and I'm still trying to understand it. I get it in theory, look for openings, think of it as chess, don't advance, move to the sides, but when I try it, I just get steamrolled by the likes of Mike and Oscar and everyone else. Still, it was nice to hear about his Algorithm as he calls it (yes, he's here in SF cause he has a start-up...). Anyhow, today was great, both physically and mentally. I hope to advance my game by staying calm and expending the minimum amount of energy for the maximum amount of return. Here's one of Lucio's matches, you can see how me moves so calm and methodical. He makes it look easy.

Jiu Jitsu Diary - 7

What a day. Exhausted. Lucio Muramatsu taught today and it seemed like everybody showed up for their new years resolution. Conrad, Ricky, Mike Kazan, Chester, Oscar, Robert, Henry, and myself, as well as Lucio. We went over the Spinning Armbar from Side Control and some variations. This is more or less what it looks like:

After that we did about a half hour of rolling where one guy is on the bottom and the guy coming in calls the guard: open, closed, half, De La Riva, etc. Whoever passes guard, sweeps, or gets a submission, that guy stays in and the other guy rotates out. It was rough. Somehow I got Conrad in a Kimura and managed to get Ricky off my back and take Side Control, but I think that was more of them giving it to me than me actually getting it, and nine times out of ten, I got swept or submitted. In the end, the question really is, who they hell wants to win and stay in the middle?